A Letter from AEMA President Dan Koeninger

Dear Members,

A few weeks ago, we held our Annual Meeting along with our partners in PPRA, ARRA and ISSA.  It was inspiring to see so many people committed to our industry and making the world a better place in which to travel. The big news at this meeting was that we celebrated the 50^th  anniversary of our association! We have come a long way since 1973 and there is still opportunity ahead of us. I want to recognize the outstanding efforts of Scott Dmytrow, Bob Huitt, and Mike O’Leary for pulling together the historical information and putting it into a format that we could all enjoy. It’s very humbling to become President of an Association with the history that this one enjoys. I’ll do my best to live up to the standards the Association is accustomed to. I hope that you took advantage of the schedule, allowing everyone to attend every technical session. The Exhibit Hall provided plenty of opportunity to learn about new technologies and equipment, as well as catching up with old friends. We featured Sponsor Spotlights throughout the program to provide another opportunity to see what our members and those who support us are up to. We also had opportunities to connect during the receptions and meals.  As usual, the presentations and other meeting details are available in the Members Only section on www.aema.org.

Highlights of the General Session:

• Our General Session Theme was The Future and how we help shape it.
• Our keynote speaker, Michael Rogers (a practical futurist who studied at Stanford in Physics, creative writing, and finance) inspired us to stay focused on our ability to improve the environment, which is top priority for many Generation “Z” folks.
• Richard Willis, of NAPA, talked with us about workforce development to ensure that we have engaged teams to continue to provide the products and services that are desperately needed today and tomorrow.
• Newly installed President of FP2, our own Mark Ishee, updated us on the activities his teams are working on for a better future in the industry.
• Rick Church led a panel discussion on industry challenges.

During the AEMA focused session we heard the following:

• The Leadership Development Team presented the history of emulsions.
• Andrew Braham, University of Arkansas, gave us a glimpse of the future of specifications.
• Aaron Roy presented an interesting look inside cationic emulsion.
• Trevor Distin from Australia gave us an update on the progress that their continent is making on switching from cut-backs to emulsions.

Highlights of the Awards Banquet:

• LEAP program participants were recognized for their work over the past year, Stormy Brewster, Aaron Walker, and Aaron Roy were recognized for moving this program to the level of excellence we had hoped it would achieve.
• Greg Arntson, Awards Committee Chair, recognized Tally Oil’s Taft Facility for achieving their first Excellence in Manufacturing Award.. There were 78 locations who renewed their award with better scores, demonstrating their desire to continue improving their locations.
• AEMA’s Past Presidents’ Award was presented to ALDOT – Tuscaloosa Division for their US 82 project – rut fill, leveling and surface with micro surface. This was their second rut fill project and saved over $2.3M versus traditional methods. The submitter was Matt Jeffers with Ergon Asphalt & Emulsions.
• AEMA’s President’s Award went to Antonio Nieves of FHWA. Unfortunately, he could not attend due to a personal situation. He is our biggest champion in DC and a fun person to be with.
• Finally, I was gaveled in as your President. It was quite an emotional experience for me.

At this year’s Business Meeting:

• Bob recapped the efforts of AEMA over the last couple of years and thanked the group for allowing him the opportunity to serve as President.
• We welcomed our newest board members, Aaron Walker of Ingevity, Stormy Brewster of Marathon Petroleum, and Xavier Guyot of COLAS.

• We recognized the installation of Amy Blaida as chair of LDT and Nat Borsh as Vice- Chair. We thanked Aaron Walker for his leadership and look forward to his input on the Board.
• We thanked Stormy Brewster for being a great LEAP “Class Dean” and welcomed Charity Cook as the new “Class Dean”. Thanks Stormy, for making the inaugural class such a success!

At a special meeting, the Graduating LEAP class presented their success stories and were promptly officially pronounced “Graduated”!  Congratulations and keep learning so that you can become the next wave of leaders in the industry.

At a very special meeting we walked down memory lane and celebrated the organizations 50^th anniversary, complete with champagne toast. I must thank Mike O’Leary for his immense help in preparing and presenting the history of the organization. He has served for many years and witnessed the progression of the industry and our association. Scot Dmytrow was also invaluable in this effort. Scott’s dedicated work to retrieving and assembling the presentation made it worthwhile for the 65 people who attended. It was a great event that demonstrated the friendships that can and do develop when people have the same goal and believe passionately in their product.

We had 379 pre- registered attendees which is more than we had pre-covid. Our next two annual meetings will be in FL and then CA. I hope to see you at these great locations for an interesting and fun meeting.

I need to thank all those Companies that helped make our meeting a huge success by sponsoring breaks, events, or the entire meeting. I appreciate your help in making this event one worth the effort to attend. I also thank you for your membership and participation in AEMA. For our organization to be sustainable, we must have new people volunteer to help in any way they can. It’s amazing that we’ve not only survived but thrived over the last 50 years. We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who gave of their time and talent to move the industry forward. They had the foresight to band together at the right time to make the emulsion industry what it is today. We now stand at the precipice of the next evolution of our business. We must have a strong and vigorous association if we expect to attain the success that is possible. With the current focus on carbon reduction, we should expect to add 50% to our volumes in the next 5 years. My hope is that you continue your support and make the effort to create the momentum that will lead us to where preservation techniques are more than a passing thought and become mainstream activities. We’re a key component to improving the service levels of the networks throughout North America. Please search your organization for those who can join the effort and make emulsion great.

When you’re ready, reach out to me, the board, committee members, or CM Services to explore how you might become more actively involved.  

Thank you in advance for all that you do to move AEMA forward!

Sincerely,
Dan Koeninger
AEMA President